Months of Abuse at Assisted Living Center Just Made Public

09 Mar Months of Abuse at Assisted Living Center Just Made Public

In the past year, the Legacy Gardens assisted-living center in Iowa has been fined a total of $42,000 – but the public is just now finding out. State laws previously prevented inspectors’ findings at assisted living centers from being made public until all appeals were exhausted. So abuse and issues of care at places like Legacy Gardens were unnoticed and hidden from the general public. A little concerning, considering that state inspectors have cited Legacy Gardens for resident abuse, backdating of medical records, violations of privacy rights, changing physicians’ orders, dozens of medication errors and having an employee at work while intoxicated.

Perhaps too late for some but good for future issues, the governor of Iowa signed a new bill into law this Tuesday that allows for immediate disclosure of state inspectors’ findings at assisted-living centers. Nursing homes were already covered under such legislation, but assisted-living centers had been previously categorized separately.

Read more about the tragic occurrences involving residents neglected and abused by employees of the Legacy Gardens center here.